The First Order

As soon as Jin Lan finished speaking, his lackeys were stunned. They looked at one another and said, “Boss, could they be tricking you?”

“No.” Jin Lan shook his head. “They were trying to keep it a secret, but I’ve already discovered the truth based on some clues!”

“What do we do now?” The lackey said, “Are we still running away?”

They were definitely not a match for Ren Xiaosu. So while they were coming here, Jin Lan and the others had secretly discussed if they should escape at night while everyone was sleeping. That way, they would stand a chance of regaining their freedom.

However, Jin Lan had changed his mind now. He said, “Run? My ass! I’m not running anywhere! I’m gonna stay right here! If I get a chance to go to Stronghold 178, I’ll be rich!”

The others were also tempted by his words. “But will they allow us to join them?”

“That’s why I’m telling y’all to behave!” Jin Lan said, “Alright, I’ll talk to the newcomers and settle them in first. This is the first mission the boss has given me, so I must not disappoint him.”

His lackeys fell silent. Fine! What else could they say since their boss had already acknowledged a new boss?

Jin Lan came over to the new bandits and said with a smile, “Hey, guys, which mountain hideout are y’all from?”

“We’re the gang from Mt. Daban’s west face.” The bandit leader of the newcomers said, “I’m warning you, we still have over 50 brothers back at our lair. Hurry up and release us, or y’all will be in serious trouble when the rest of our brothers get here.”

Jin Lan laughed, “Bro, who are you trying to threaten? How dare you make threats in front of Stronghold 178’s people? You said that you still have more than 50 brothers back at your lair, but do you know how many brothers we have in Stronghold 178?”

The person standing across from Jin Lan was stunned. What the hell? People from Stronghold 178?

It was no wonder the young man and woman who had just given them a good beating were so strong. He looked at Jin Lan and asked uncertainly, “Are all of you from Stronghold 178?”

Jin Lan hesitated. “Not yet for me…”

“Then what are you blabbering about?” the bandit leader snapped.

“But those two lords who beat y’all up are!” Jin Lan lowered his voice and said, “Bro, I used to be from the North Face. You know where Mushroom Ridge is?”

“Wait.” The bandit standing across from him was stunned. He said, “You were also captured by them? I’ve heard about those twenty or so people over at Mushroom Ridge. Someone said that they lived real awfully there.”

Jin Lan’s face darkened immediately. “How can you speak like that! I’ve turned my life around. Do you see the gun at my waist? It’s a reward from our two lords over there! From now on, I’ll be your leader, so you better wise up!”

The bandit said meekly, “Are those two really from Stronghold 178? How do you know that?”

“Hehe.” Jin Lan whispered, “Lemme tell you, I discovered it myself, so it’s definitely true. Think about it again. Do you still want to go back to your West Face, or would you rather stay here for a better future?”

At this point, the bandit was close to believing what he said. Most people would not use Stronghold 178’s name as a joke. Moreover, the immense power displayed by Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin in combat made their hearts pound.

Jin Lan said in a low voice, “Last year when winter had just arrived, Master Xu happened to pass by this place. Did you hear about it?”

“Yeah.” The bandit leader said as his eyes lit up, “Are those two related to Master Xu as well?”

“I’m not sure about that.” Jin Lan said, “But when Master Xu passed by here back then, a reckless gang of bandits tried to rob him. At first, two of the bandits were finished off by some sort of magic. That angered the rest of the bandits, and more than 50 of them attacked all at once. However, they still couldn’t hold him down despite that. That flying black cauldron was the best!”

“I also heard about it. It’s true.” The bandit leader said, “I heard that Master Xu has another power that summons a shadow.”

“How can the shadow be more powerful than the cauldron?” Jin Lan said excitedly, “I heard that the cauldron is extremely powerful. The 50-odd bandits shot at it for half an hour with their guns but still couldn’t break it.”

“Hey, that’s an exaggeration. What I heard was that they fired at it for two whole minutes.”

“Let’s not get too bothered with the details,” Jin Lan said unhappily. “In the aftermath, those bandits regretted their actions. At that time, Master Xu had still not risen to power. If they followed him at that time, they would’ve found salvation. That same opportunity has now presented itself right in front of us, so my advice to you is to give it a rest.”

“More importantly, who can confirm that the two of them are from Stronghold 178?” the bandit leader said unconvinced. “Even though they might be strong, I still don’t really believe they are who they say they are.”

“Do whatever you like then,” Jin Lan said coldly. He suddenly felt that everyone was drunk whereas he was the only sober one.

But at this moment, Jin Lan saw a dark shadow darting past in an irrigation ditch. He thought he was seeing things, so he asked the people next to him, “Did y’all see anything just now?”

Someone said, “I think I saw a dark shadow moving extremely fast.”

The bandit who’d just been captured today started laughing. “I’m afraid that our brothers at home are getting worried about us. They must be here to rescue us!”

“Bullshit!” Jin Lan spat out, “As if you people are that close!”

Some of the bandits hurried after the shadow by following the ditches while Jin Lan followed close behind them in the fear they would escape. However, they did not find anyone there. Some of them could not accept this and continued chasing. But less than two minutes later, they were surprised to see Ren Xiaosu talking face to face with a shadow. The shadow that felt like a physical being handed Ren Xiaosu a letter before sprinting off into the wilderness.

A lot of others who were following Jin Lan also witnessed what just happened.

“What did y’all say about Master Xu’s other power?” someone asked in a soft, quivering voice. “Two different superhumans can’t have the same power, that much I do know….”

Jin Lan said in a low voice, “Let’s get out of here! They definitely won’t want anyone to discover them if they’ve chosen to meet in such a secretive spot. If they find out that we saw them, they might even try to silence us!”

But before they could leave, Ren Xiaosu had already looked up and discovered Jin Lan and the others. His face darkened and a killing intent seemed to slowly start forming.

Jin Lan immediately knelt on the ground and cried, “Boss, I didn’t see anything! Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me!”

Immediately, everyone behind Jin Lan also knelt down in fear that Ren Xiaosu might silence them.

Ren Xiaosu slowly walked up to Jin Lan and the others. After a long pause, he said, “Alright, get up, but y’all must keep it a secret.”

Jin Lan and the others nearly cried. “Boss, thank you for sparing us! Thank you for sparing us!”

“Gratitude received from Jin Lan, +1!”

“Gratitude received from…”

With this wave of gratitudes alone, Ren Xiaosu harvested over a dozen gratitude tokens and his number of gratitude tokens was back to around 900 or so!

Jin Lan and the others got up and ran towards the settlement. Along the way, Jin Lan asked while panting, “So do you still want to run away? Do you believe me now?”

However, the new bandit next to him said, “Can you please let me return to my lair?”

Jin Lan was stunned. “You still want to run away?”

“No, I want to get all my brothers to come back here with me and surrender together.”